Harry and Lulu: YTMS Guided Read-Aloud Book Shows How to Read to Kids

Weston, Connecticut – With a new release for the New Year, You TELL Me Stories today is proud to announce the release and immediate availability of Harry and Lulu 1.0, the fifth illustrated book app for iPad in the You TELL Me Stories Library. Designed to help parents learn and practice the most effective way to read to children, Harry and Lulu features WordWinks-questions, comments, and paraphrased vocabulary embedded in red within the text. While reading Harry and Lulu to their child, parents pause when they encounter red colored text, and read the question or comment in the more conversational tone of a parent rather than a narrator. Validated by educational researchers, the QC technique makes kids active participants in the reading process: enhancing listening, thinking, and talking skills.

Lynn Rubin, expert in early childhood education and Co-Founder of You TELL Me Stories, said recently, “We are publishing children’s preschool picture books that are read aloud to a child as a master teacher would, interjecting into the text commentaries, questions to ask, and vocabulary to paraphrase. Our books also teach parents how to read, using the same technique, with the exact script to use, while reading to their child and building the essential oral language skills vital for literacy.”

“You TELL Me Stories address three crucial areas – thinking skills, essential for learning both in school and in life, vocabulary development, essential for academic success, and emotional connection, parent and child cuddled together for a fun, interactive, enriching experience,” said Dr. Lydia Soifer, speech pathologist and Director of the Soifer Center for Learning and Child Development. “Given that a parent is a child’s first teacher, the application is a flexible and readily accessible parent-training tool.”

Caldecott Award-winning author “Arthur Yorinks has a terrifically funny voice that begs to be read out loud. When Lulu asks her parents for a dog for the 40th time, they give her a toy poodle – not the miniature but the stuffed kind. She throws a tantrum … but when Harry the poodle wakes her up with a squeaky bark, Lulu is having none of it: ‘You’re not a dog. You’re just a stuffed animal,’ she growls at him. They argue, Harry fails her dog biscuit test and goes wild for bagels instead, they argue some more, and Harry tells her he’s going back to where he came from – Paris. Lulu decides to go, too. She has the perfect beret to wear on their trip. ” (NY Times)

In the “Listen with WordWinks” menu option, Ms. Rubin reads the story aloud as a narrator might, at a moderate pace and with emphasized expression. Character voices are read by actors. When the text turns from black to red, the narrator pauses and reads the question or comment in a normal tone of voice. WordWinks are sprinkled across the pages of the text, and offer the opportunity for the child to think about what he or she has just heard, and respond aloud or to their inner voice. In the “Read with WorkWinks” menu option, the parent can use Ms. Rubin’s narration as a model, but read aloud themselves using WordWinks. Co-Founder and educator Alexandra Hartenbaum explains, “Reading aloud to your child is the perfect way to develop skills in vocabulary, thinking, and listening. However, simply listening to the story is NOT enough. You TELL Me Stories get children actively participating with the story they are hearing by listening, thinking, and talking.”

Feature Highlights:
* Imaginative story that children love
* Teaches parents how to read to kids
* Colorful graphics
* Narrated by a master teacher and professional voiceover actors
* Record your own version of the story
* Advisory Board of Language and Literacy Experts oversees the production of all books

For maximum benefit, kids must be active participants, not passive listeners. Ms. Hartenbaum adds, “Children build the ability to read on their ability to speak. Oral language skills are the foundation for literacy – reading, spelling, and writing. Parents have the power to alter their child’s success in school before they ever meet a teacher. Strong oral language skills are the greatest predictor of academic success, and the most important years for developing oral language skills are the first 7 years of life.”

Harry and Lulu: A You TELL Me Stories app for iPad has several more innovative features that make it an ideal addition to the iPad library of every preschooler. Besides the iPad “Listen with WordWinks” option, the app includes a parent “Read with WordWinks” option, where the grown-up reads the text and WordWinks aloud. After reading there is a “Retell, Record and Share” activity where kids can arrange pictures from the book into the story sequence, and then record their own voice re-telling the story, which can be shared via email with family, teachers, and friends.

Pricing and Availability:
Harry and Lulu: a You TELL Me Stories ebook app is $3.99 introductory offer (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Books category. Review copies are available on request.

Based in Weston, Connecticut, You TELL Me Stories was founded by Alexandra Hartenbaum and Lynn Rubin in 2011. The Company publishes children’s preschool picture books for iPhone and iPad. The You TELL Me Stories App is a unique educational initiative dedicated to the development of “Read-Aloud” books uniquely designed so that the experience for the child and adult is modeled on methods validated by research. This evidenced based approach to reading aloud builds the necessary oral language and emergent literacy skills required for success in school … and life! Because HOW you read to a child, and not just how often, makes a difference. Copyright (C) 2011-2014 You TELL Me Stories, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.